55 Fairlane

[wfo guy]

My thought is if the owner is 80, that the car has to be the most dependable hot rod ever. There can't be any exceptions. If he's a rodder, it will have to have the right sound. If he's not, the paint on the hood needs to be perfect because that's about all he will see. I have coffee with an 85 year old every morning. He's a little hard of hearing and his eyesight is not perfect. He has a good mind and he's aware of the changes in the auto industry. When I talk about power accessories, he's on board. If I talk about powerful engines, he's not so excited. Is the father or the son telling you what to build?

[Crestronwizard]

My thought is if the owner is 80, that the car has to be the most dependable hot rod ever. There can't be any exceptions. If he's a rodder, it will have to have the right sound. If he's not, the paint on the hood needs to be perfect because that's about all he will see. I have coffee with an 85 year old every morning. He's a little hard of hearing and his eyesight is not perfect. He has a good mind and he's aware of the changes in the auto industry. When I talk about power accessories, he's on board. If I talk about powerful engines, he's not so excited. Is the father or the son telling you what to build?

A mix. The dad asked for a 302. I'm guessing this was a big upgrade in the old days.

[wfo guy]

The real upgrade back then was a fe series engine. In 1958, you could get a 332 or a 352. By the early 60's there were 390's everywhere. That was a fairly easy swap because of the factory usage in 58 and newer. When the 221, 260 and 289 arrived, they weren't as exciting because of small displacement. In the 60's cubic inches were where it was going. The 64 289 wasn't near as good to drive as a fox body 5.0. The difference in low end torque is substantial. I think an efi 5.0 in the 55 would be excellent. Good power, durable and good fuel economy with overdrive and the right gear ratio.

[DualQuadDave]

Trust me, build the y block. Alum heads, mild cam, holley sniper efi. Done. Add AOD or GM od tranny and perfect. Easy, quick, affordable and solid.

[CampbellshotrodsAZ]

Having just had my butt kicked by an FE for the last 6 months to figure out stupid little issues, and interchange problems, I'd avoid anything "old school" unless the owner explicitly requests that. If you want something fun to drive, powerful, affordable, and reliable... go anything but FE/Y-block. Especially on this pro-touring board. Y-block stuff is more the HAMB.

Trust me, build the y block. Alum heads, mild cam, holley sniper efi. Done. Add AOD or GM od tranny and perfect. Easy, quick, affordable and solid.

Didn't realize they even made Y-block aluminum heads. Had to look it up. Yikes. $2,250 for a pair, not really my definition of "affordable". Makes the $1,400 for Edelbrock FE heads seem like a bargain.

[DualQuadDave]

Well, my thought is he has a running complete Y block, why not build it? Y block is much easier build than an FE, not near as many inherent problems and bolting on a tranny should be fairly easy. JMO, swapping a 5.0/AOD would probably be the easiest/cheapest/fastest/most reliable solution. Usually when you do a swap of any kind, custom equals hours and hours equals $$$. Just depends on what the customer wants. $2250 for oddball alum heads is a bargain. I build a lot of Buicks and higher end SBC/LS motors and 2k is what it costs for a good set of heads that make power. I hardly ever run Edelbrock heads, with some exceptions, they are not usually the best bang for buck powerwise. They are usually slightly improved stock type heads, by design. For comparison, Blue Thunder High Rise heads will run about $2100 assembled and flow 300+ cfm. BTW, do you have thread for your 82 Z build? I like third gens a lot.

[Crestronwizard]

Back from blasting

[wfo guy]

Looks pretty good naked.

[RMMiller]

Pretty solid for it's age, that will be a nice ride!